Joint Rutgers-city police patrols expanding

NEW BRUNSWICK – Teams of New Brunswick and Rutgers University police officers on Thursday started patrolling the city’s Fifth and Sixth Wards together on foot and bicycles.

The two-officer teams, each with one officer from New Brunswick and another officer from Rutgers, is the latest expansion of the Neighborhood Police Team joint patrol program started earlier this year with the officers patrolling in cars.

The number of additional Neighborhood Police Teams deployed and the times they patrol will depend on the day of the week and events impacting those neighborhoods. The teams will be increased during busy weekend evenings as well as when Big Ten football games and other Rutgers events are held.

Both police departments have received positive feedback about the police team approach and decided to expand the program.

“The Rutgers students will be returning to New Brunswick in the next two weeks, and we want to have a greater police presence in the Fifth and Sixth Wards, where many of those students reside,” said New Brunswick Police Director Anthony A. Caputo. “I believe that direct one-on-one contact between students and police provides a safer environment and an effective handling of quality of life issues which affect the students and residents.”

Rutgers Police Chief Kenneth Cop said the safety of the Rutgers community is his priority and the additional patrols will provide greater opportunities for interaction between students living off-campus and the Neighborhood Police Team, while building a bond between the college and the city.

In March, New Brunswick and Rutgers officers teamed up in the same patrol car to patrol the two wards.